<
https://www.bbc.co.uk/future/article/20250903-why-wild-venison-is-a-climate-friendly-swap-for-beef>
"My last meat feast was seven years ago. My parents were visiting me in London
from Costa Rica and we spent the evening going through the brief but rich menu
of a small steak restaurant. For them, it was their final meal before returning
home; for me, a farewell to my most carnivorous days.
In the years since I've kept a diet of mostly vegetarian dishes, bits of
seafood and the occasional exception. As this diet emerged from my work
covering climate change, I pick and choose with that in mind: if an animal
product is low carbon, like mussels, it will be on my plate regularly. Meat – a
high-carbon food – features on my plate for special meals, like my mum's pork
leg for Christmas, or on the rare occasion I really crave something like the
Costa Rican pork belly-based specialty chifrijo.
Each person has their own approach to climate-friendly food; mine is to reduce
food-related emissions, not to have a perfect vegetarian scorecard.
Since I moved to Scotland a few years ago, a new wrinkle has appeared: venison
– the meat from deer. Deer populations are out of hand here: the Scottish
Government estimates that the overall population could be around one million,
up from half a million in 1990. Deer are thriving, partly because humans
eradicated their predators, such as wolves and lynx centuries ago.
In response, deer populations are culled every year to keep numbers in check.
In my pragmatic climate diet, venison felt like fair game as long as it came
from wild deer.
But, was it? This question was on my mind when I was dining at a cosy pub in
Mallaig in the Scottish Highlands and spotted venison steak on the menu. Could
wild deer really feature in a climate-conscious diet?"
Via
Positive.News
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
